mosaix A publication of First Armenian Presbyterian Church Love God. Love Others. Make Disciples. July 2018 Vol. 4:7

Transcription

1 mosaix A publication of First Armenian Presbyterian Church Love God. Love Others. Make Disciples. July 2018 Vol. 4:7 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Genesis 2:24 By the authority given to me as a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss The wedding season has begun! Several weeks ago I found myself in the idyllic setting of a Cape Cod beach with truly perfect weather, performing the wedding of a wonderful couple. Their unity candle even stayed lit in the breeze! Let s make the most of the season this year! I imagine that many of you will be celebrating your anniversaries in the coming weeks and months. By far, the vast majority of weddings happen in the summer. We want nice weather. The guests can frequently combine weddings with vacations. Maybe most importantly, the weather in honeymoon destinations are frequently more predictable in the summer. Whatever the reason, there s a good chance you or someone close to you will be celebrating a wedding or an anniversary soon. When we do, what is our focus? Maybe its because I have the privilege of conducting premarital counseling and officiating weddings, I do a lot thinking about marriage. I m always amazed as I see God bring two people together, giving them the courage (or blindness!) to commit themselves to a lifelong relationship of trust, forgiveness, endurance and joy. I still cannot explain the miracle of two becoming one. In our recent video class, What Did You Expect? Dr. Paul David Tripp offered an explanation of what draws us together: I m attracted to you, because I love me. Wow! When I first heard it, I thought My! Rather cynical aren t we?! The more I ve reflected on it, however, I must admit that it s a much better description for most of us than the Christian ideal and calling of sacrificial love at least in the engagement phase. There s more than attraction, though. There are vows. I remember my father telling me once how much he appreciates hearing couples recite the traditional wedding vows. It s not that he s against creativity. Like many of you, when he hears the vows, he repeats them in his heart, recommitting himself to his own marriage to my mother. I want to be like him when I grow up! Weddings and anniversary celebrations are a great opportunity for us to intentionally thank God for our marriages, for our families and for the friendships that God has given to us. But let s not just thank God; let s tell each other why we re so grateful for our relationships. Let s not leave such important affirmation unspoken. When we hear the Genesis passage quoted in the service, keep in mind how Dr. Dan Allendar captures its meaning: God calls couples to leave, weave, and cleave. We must leave behind all competing loyalties (even our birth families) and weave our lives together (communicating our hearts to each other) and cleave to each other in purity and faithfulness. This summer, as you celebrate the relationships the Lord has given you, rejoice in His goodness and recommit yourself to love others sacrificially. Be aware that we are inclined to put our own needs first. It s resisting this impulse daily, that gives us something to celebrate. This summer, let s make the most of our relationships! Badveli Greg

2 MINAS PROJECT UPDATE: Following the January 7 Worship Service, we gave $10 to each member. But it wasn't a gift. Badveli Greg had just preached from the parable of the minas (Matthew 25; Luke 19). In the parable, the Master hands three servants ten minas (money) each and they were asked to put the minas to work until the Master comes back. Badveli Greg challenged us to creatively invest our $10 to double, triple, or even quadruple what God has given us, or in this case, FAPC. Two members recently shared the following: "On January 9, we pooled our packets of $10 'seed money' and invested in two shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a semiconductor maker in Santa Clara. As of June 18, each share had grown by $5.40. We look forward to returning the seed money and the increase to help the Session strengthen the Armenian language and Christian Education Curricula at the Charlie Keyan Armenian Community School." To date, the Minas Project has collected more than $4,550. Family Life News Deacon s Corner Every child is a gift from God and we must always pray for them. Whether our children are still babies or away at college, we know God is always with them, protecting and keeping them safe from harm. We must pray for their salvation and ask God for His wisdom so we can guide them and teach them right from wrong. We have beautiful, talented children, and we thank God for their many accomplishments! There are times when we feel anxious, overwhelmed, or even tired. Because we know of God s constant presence in the lives of our children, we can freely release them to His care. Let s also remember to pray for the children of our nation, children struggling with illnesses or insecurities in their daily lives and for children who are lost spiritually or physically praying for their safety. Please know that the deacons are always praying for our children! Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Psalm 127:3 NASB The Food Pantry is LOW!!!! Our food pantry is IN NEED of the following items ONLY: pasta, pasta sauce, rice, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, canned fruits, canned corn, pinto or kidney beans, canned chicken or tuna, soups, & cereal. Thank you for your generosity in contributing to this important ministry! Sela Ghazarian Great time together and the Giants won! Alidz Alice (Matossian) Anspikian, FAPC Administrator at the time of the millennium, passed away on June 12, 2018 at the age of 70. A native of Aleppo, Syria, Alidz emigrated to the Dominion of Canada and eventually settled in Central California, where she succeeded the retiring Anita Console as Church Administrator during Congregation s Centennial Year, She faithfully served on the FAPC Ministry Team during the final years of Reverend Bernard Guekguezian s senior pastorate, the interim pastorates of Reverend Doctor Lee Allison Hicks and Reverend Louis R. Paradise, and the early years of the pastorate of Reverend Mgrdich Melkonian. Alidz is survived by her beloved husband, Karekin Karl Anspikian; son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Ara and Tricia Anspikian, and their family of Redlands, California; sister and brother-in-law, Sonia and Alex Jemanjian; and niece Natalie Jemanjian. 2

3 Music Ministry Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world. The Lord of Heaven s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Psalm 46:10-11 NLT Come join the church on Sunday evening, July 22 nd at 6:30pm for a celebration of God as our fortress amidst all the confusion of the world. Be lifted up as we sing hymns and hear hymns accompanied by the organ played by our own Mike Varlas. We will also hear duets and accompaniments by some of our members, including violin and piano. Then stay for a time of fellowship. Family Life News Handbells update: If you have been waiting for the handbells to return, rejoice! Our handbells traveled back east to be refurbished and have returned. We will begin with lessons and rehearsals in July. If you haven t already signed up for handbells, please connect with Jesse Dunbar know or music@ fapc.net Band update: Interested in helping out with the band? We need your help! Come talk to Jesse Dunbar, Chris Shamlian, or Razmig Minassian and we will include you in s and communications. Choir: We will be taking our summer break but will return on Rally Sunday, Sept 9. If you would like to know the music we will be singing and would like to help, please see Jesse Dunbar or Richard Bittikofer, or music@fapc.net. SAT s of Parenting You blinked and they graduated from high school. You ve been saying over and over again, it was just yesterday they were swimming with a floaty it was just yesterday I was helping them with their science projects it was just yesterday. You used to have quiet nights with just the spouse, now you re juggling bed and bath times, and passing out on the couch before 9pm. You used to enjoy fine dining, now you re noticing you re cutting up your meal like you re about to feed your five-year-old child. 3 What takes up most of parents attention? Parents are running from making dinner, washing dishes, keeping up with cleaning the house, five loads of laundry in a day, soccer, piano, art class, ballet, birthday party, food prep, those are the day to day things. I haven't even gotten to the worry part that takes up most of our attention, consumes us the most: we worry if they will get straight A s, get into a college, get a good paying job, will they ever move out, will they ever have friends? What if they don't ever speak Armenian? Will they get married? Why are the kids so mean to him? Am I too harsh as a parent? As a parent, am I a pushover? Does my child trust me? Back when I was in high school, SAT s really defined our hopes and dreams of attending certain colleges. I know it was super competitive and I m sure in 20 years, it s even more competitive. So parents, wherever you are in the season of parenting, even if you re a grandparent, I m not going to challenge you with the SAT s, but in the same acronym I d like to give you three (3) points from this passage that I think have been working for me as a parent. Saturate our time with God. Let me say this in the most clear and direct way: if you re not spending, getting soaked in God s Word, steeping your time with God, scheduling in the priority of Jesus and me time, how will you ever strive to become the parent God has called you to be? It is a privilege. Being a parent is not an obligation or a chore, it is a privilege, because God is going to use you as His tool to raise your children in knowing Jesus. Now, in all three points, as parents, we have to have a come to Jesus moment, do these matter to me as a parent? What things that we value are competing in your heart? In the MSG version, Matthew 6:21 says: The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. Does taking time with Jesus have a high priority? Better yet, if we were to shadow you, what has most of your attention in a day? If your day is being saturated with experiencing grace, forgiveness, love, peace, joy of knowing Jesus, then your children are going to experience this from you. So saturate your time with God. Aim at doing things God s way. Matthew 6:33, says But seek [aim at] first his kingdom and his righteousness. I had heard this one phrase in a movie with regards to target practice, aim small, miss

4 small. I think the same concept applies with aiming at or seeking after doing things God s way. I know we won t be perfect in our pursuit of righteousness. We can aim at things that need to change in our lives. We can aim small in our pursuit of righteousness which I think can help with the big moments. Connecting with our first point of saturate our time with God, the more time we spend with God, seeking after him, reading, praying, learning, the more our heart will be on target in prioritizing God over other stuff. When it comes to what you value or seek first in life Does having a relationship with Jesus trump your child s educational success? Does your pursuit of financial happiness take away intentional time spent with your children in pursuing after Jesus? What steps can you take starting this summer to make Jesus a higher priority? How can I help walk alongside you to help in this process? Saturate your time with Jesus. Aim at doing things God s way. Then the last letter in our acronym. that it is a privilege for us to be used by God as His tools to raise children to know Jesus. It is your calling. Truly, this is more important than raising them to be successful, educated, or any other expectations. Just like the SAT s measure our scores in English/Math, my hope, as a pastor, is for this acronym to be a tool to see how we re doing with raising the next generation to know Jesus. Saturate your time with Jesus. Aim at doing things God s ways. Teach about Jesus through our own lives. Teach our children about Jesus through our life. I love Emi s imagination. When she s talking with her dolls, she s using phrases that we ve used with her. Is that the way you should be talking? You need to stop whining and use your words. We know that children are so impressionable and that they begin talking like us or repeating our phrases. If they ve absorbed these kinds of phrases in this short amount of time, can you imagine how much more they can learn from us (as parents) about Jesus? As parents, sometimes we have the expectation that attending Sunday School or KidsQuest will teach them God s ways, or we hope the local youth group will be influential. However, if we do some simple math, the programs we have at church with just Sunday School and KidsQuest, roughly 104 hours of exposure to your children in a year versus 2288 hours of exposure with them (I factored school in there so 4 hrs/day with them, plus 12 hr Saturdays/Sundays). Who do we think is going to have more of an impact? It s no wonder that in Deuteronomy 6:4 and following God says to impress/teach your children love the lord with all you got... while walking, lying down, put symbols up, basically use every opportunity we have through our lives to teach them about Jesus. The best example of teaching our children about Jesus is the parent, which goes back to our original thought 4 For the Sunday School year, I m grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside Arpi Keledjian and Maryvonne Gagliardi, as our Sunday School Coordinators, as well as the many Sunday School Teachers. Sunday School starts at 9:37AM with JAM (Jesus and Me Worship time), and then the children are dismissed to their respective classes. Both Arpi and Maryvonne have this energy, creativity, and, above all passion for Jesus which is quite contagious. They continually want Sunday School to be a place for children to thrive in learning more about God. They have unique ideas that shape the program and they ultimately serve an audience of One, our Lord. In addition to a great year in Sunday School, our KidsQuest program continues to grow with Sue Garabedian overseeing it. Just like Arpi and Maryvonne, the same can be said of Sue, who is a visionary and detailed oriented when it comes to Christian Education. She, too, expresses a deep desire to see our next generation know God and want to live for Him. Badveli Mgo

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6 VBS Recap! In addition to our group volunteers, we had volunteers who helped with the decorations--a very important aspect of the program! A big thanks to John L Herrin and Connie Herrin who made the largest decorative piece which consisted of five large wooden panels with the word SHINE and five crowns. This was not a task many wanted to take on! John L, however, was ready to help and did a fine job! Connie, who is a very talented woman, did an amazing job with the artistic component of the decorative piece. Thank you to Arpi Keledjian who made the fonts for the crowns, in addition to the fonts for the group signs. Dear Congregation: I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude and appreciation for each and every Vacation Bible School (VBS) volunteer who made this year's program a success. This year, for the first time, I took on the role of VBS Director which was an exciting opportunity for me to serve in the children's ministry. As I began my search for volunteers, I was impressed with the number of individuals who wanted to commit their time and energy to working with children. We had 35 volunteers this year, and they all deserve a shout out for a job well done! Our VBS program is for children ranging from 2 through 11 years of age. We had five groups: Lightning Bugs (2-3 years old), Shooting Stars and Starbursts (4-5 years old), GloGetters (6-7 years old), and Lightning Bolts (8-11 years old). Each group had a leader who led them in Bible study and directed them to different stations-games, arts and crafts, and snacks. The following are the names of our amazing leaders and assistants who deserve our gratitude: classrooms. The decorations in the Sunday School building were made possible with the help of the following who came on a Saturday to help me: Rev. Mgo, Deanna Manachian (my sister), who helped me tremendously at home and church, and group leaders who decorated each of their A big shout out to Sue Garabedian! She decorated our glow-in-the-dark room which was a great hit with the kids. She helped with registration during VBS week. She also took on the responsibility for the pizza party buying all the supplies, setting the tables with centerpieces (!) in the gym, and helping with cutting and serving pizza. She gave me encouragement when I needed it and for that I am grateful. Lighting Bugs: Leader Arpi Keledjian and assistants Silva Esajian, Darren Poochigian, Peter Kazarian, Tina Esajian, and Alexan Haroutunian. Shooting Stars: Leader Julie Thurber and her assistants Julia Adanalian and Katherine Wells. Starbursts: Leader Samantha Bautista with the help of moms, Kristin Edwards and Haykuhi Kalebjian; Ani Haroutunian and Hagop Catchatoorian who stepped in to help when Samantha needed a hand. Glo-Getters: Leader Lisa Tokatian and her assistant, Isabella Thurber. Lightning Bolts: co-led by Vars Megerditchian and Carina Tokatian. Anto Sakayan led the games station with the help of Eddie Thurber, Frank Kazarian, Hagop Catchatoorian, and Lucas Adanalian. Connie Herrin led the arts and crafts station with the help of Carine Saghdejian, Judi Kazarian, Clarice Kachadourian and her daughter Audrey Kachadourian, and Seta Manachian. Finally, a shout out to the opening and closing session team. Thank you to Rev. Mgo and Rev. Razmig Minassian who helped me tremendously. A loud applaud to the VBS skit team: Peter Kazarian, Frank Kazarian, Julia Adanalian, and Alexan Haroutunian. They all did a great job entertaining the children! Our prayer and hope for the VBS program is always to bring glory to God and that, is after all, what this year s curriculum was all about. Our volunteers were humble servants of God and were the ultimate glory givers! I hope I didn't forget to thank anyone. On behalf of FAPC, we truly appreciate everyone's help, big or little. We wish everyone a safe and fun summer! Lauren Hallaian and Debbie Kazarian, a strong motherdaughter team, led the snack station and recapped the Bible study lesson every day. Lauren shopped for all the snacks, in addition to the salad and popsicles provided during our pizza party on the last day of VBS. 6 Natalie Shemmassian

7 NAME (list all attendees): ADDRESS: TEL: All Church-ONE DAY Family Retreat August 25 at Calvin Crest REGISTRATION FORM ***$ maximum cost per family*** $35 per person (Ages 5 & up) #OF KIDS/ADULTS ($35) #OF KIDS (0-4) (FREE) TOTAL (5 & up) (Please put on memo line: Family Camp) GRAND TOTAL $ Life-stages and ages. The burdens we bear, our brokenness and bruises are not to be endured alone in shame, fear, or confusion. Whether we are struggling in our parenting, caring for aging parents, difficulties in our marriages, or floundering in our faith, there is hope in the heavy. We want to be praying alongside you, laughing with you, crying with you, caring for you, and, as a community, stand with you whatever you re facing. Anonymously, if you want to highlight something on this piece of paper and then mail it in or even drop it in the offering plate, please do so. We would like to be praying for these things at the Family Retreat, as well as a church family. If you only knew... If you have any questions regarding Family Camp: Badveli Mgo, associate@fapc.net ( ) 7

8 Nonprofit Org. US Postage PAID Fresno, CA Permit No S. 1st St Fresno, CA Address Service Requested Upcoming Special Events AEUNA/AEYF Biennial in LA June 28-July 1 Maturing Men Breakfast June 30 Armenian Home Visit July 1 HymnFest, 6:30pm July 22 Maturing Men Breakfast July 28 Armenian Home Visit Aug 5 One-Day Family Retreat Aug 25 Armenian Home Visit Sept 1 Rally Sunday Sept 9 Church Office: 8:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m. (M - F) P: F: E: fapc3@fapc.net Mosaix submissions are due by the 15 th of the month. Please information to fapc3@fapc.net. Staff: Suzy Artemyan, Church Administrator Jesse Dunbar, Interim Music Ministry Director Vera Darakjian, Armenian Ministries Pianist Marine Frznlyan, Nursery Attendant Susan Ruiz, Custodian Teaching Elders: Ruling Elders: Deacons: Rev. Greg Haroutunian, Senior Pastor (badveli@fapc.net) Rev. Mgo Mekredijian, Associate Pastor of Young Families Ministries (associate@fapc.net) Dr. Hagop Afarian, Ed Esajian, Krikor Kalayjian, Paul Koligian, Fernando Rubio, Dr. Dennis Shamlian, Ron Statler Vera Darakjian, Silva Esajian, Maryvonne Gagliardi, Sela Ghazarian, Keith Harrison, Maria Kalayjian, Kohar Kojayan, Bob Mangasarian, Karine Martirosyan, Rita Shamlian, Varvara Sivas